BOSSIER CITY, La. – If Friday night was the low of lows, Saturday night was certainly the high of highs for Wayne Savage and the Texas Brahmas who showed that they can recover from a terrible performance, losing 5-1 in Tulsa, then take a six-hour bus ride to Bossier City and stick it to the league-leading (18-7-0, 36 points) Mudbugs, who had won their last five games at the CenturyTel Center. 
The Brahmas won 4-0, and it could have been much worse for the home team as at least three Texas shots on goal hit the post or crossbar. The Brahmas are one of three teams (including Allen and Mississippi) to defeat the Mudbugs this season and on Saturday, they became just the second to take down Bossier-Shreveport more than once (Allen, 4 times). Fortunately for the ‘Bugs, Allen (17-4-1, 35 points), who is knocking on the door in second place in the Berry Conference, was off tonight and won’t play again until Friday night, when they host the third place Brahmas. Then there’s Savage. Wayne Savage. 33 shots faced – 33 saves made for his first pro career shut out. Nice turnaround from a tough night at the NYTEX Sports Centre with a 4-1 loss against the Missouri Mavericks last Friday. Throw in the fact that it was Teddy Bear Toss night at CenturyTel – but no bears hit the ice on account of a Mudbugs first goal…despite outshooting the Brahmas 27-9 in the last 40 minutes, the ‘Bugs couldn’t solve Savage and were bla nked at home for the first time since November 2, 2007. According to the Shreveport Times’ Roy Lang, when the Brahmas scored an empty-net goal with 30.44 seconds remaining in the game to take a 4-0 lead, disappointed fans finally unloaded the stuffed animals.
Wayne Savage
“(Savage) played well against Shreveport in our barn,” Dan Wildfong told Lang. “He stepped up his game and we’re going to continue to need good goaltending. We knew what their record was when the other team scores first; we’re not stupid.” “We had to play smart hockey. We knew they are going to keep coming with pressure. We had to make big saves at big times. We did that.” Wildfong said. Both teams missed on two power play opportunities in the first period and the game remained scoreless after the first 20. Shane Hart and Todd Griffith were the under card and came to blows at the 16:58 mark, earning matching Fighting Majors and an early trip to the locker room. The Brahmas out shot the ‘Bugs 11-7 but both ‘tenders were solid in net. The ‘Bugs held the Brahmas to just five shots in the second frame, but the visitors made them count, scoring on three of them. Greg Hogeboom tallied the first goal during a 2-on-1 break with Jason Deitsch at the 3:19 mark to put the Brahmas up 1-0. Chad Woollard was also credited with a helper on the play. Matt Pierce buried a rebound to notch his fifth goal of the season at the 10:51 mark, with a little help from Tyler Allen and Sean Hurley. Chad Woollard ripped a perfect shot into the top corner off a Mudbugs turnover at the 15:37 mark, putting the Brahmas ahead 3-0 heading into the third period. Jason Krischuk was credited with the assist. The ‘Bugs made a good effort in the final frame, pelting Savage with 16 shots (to the Brahmas four), but never beat the rookie goaltender as their season high five-game home winning streak came to an end.
Tyler Allen
Tyler Allen capped off the Brahmas win on an empty net with a short-handed goal, assisted by Steven Later with 30 seconds remaining. Speaking of Later, he threw down the gloves and battled Jeff Martens in the final second of the contest, providing a final bit of excitement for ‘Bugs fans, who otherwise had a less than pleasurable evening at the CTC. With the win, the Brahmas record goes to 11-7-3 (.595, 25 points), remaining in third place in the Berry Conference. They retain a two point lead on both Mississippi and Arizona, who have played two more games than the Brahmas, and Tulsa, who have played three more games. Texas is now 5-4-2 on the road. Once again, Wayne Savage stopped 33 of 33 to earn the shut out win. His record goes to 4-4-1-1 with a 2.59 GAA (8th in the league) and a .917 save percentage (7th in the league). The Mudbugs’ John DeCaro turned away 16 of 19 shots faced and takes the loss (ending a six-game win streak). His record goes to 7-2-0. The Brahmas went 0 for 3 on the power play. The Mudbugs, who entered the game with the number one power play unit in the league, went 0-5. The Brahmas still have the number one penalty kill in the league this season with just 12 power play goals allowed and a 88.12 percentage. The 3rd Star of the game went to Brahmas Captain Jason Deitsch, who had an assist and was a +3 on the night. The 2nd Star was awarded to Chad Woollard, who had a goal and an assist and the 1st Star went to, of course, Wayne Savage. The Brahmas will travel to meet their cross-town rivals, the Allen Americans on Friday night.
Contact the author at
robert.keith@prohockeynews.comRelated
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